The latest QS World University Rankings has been released for 2017/18, showing which South African universities have the best global reputation – and which ones are struggling.

The University of Cape Town remains the leading university in South Africa in the QS rankings, which focuses on an institute’s global academic reputation.

In the 2016/17 ranking UCT dropped as many as 20 places to 191st worldwide – however, it managed to stop a further slide and held on to the rank in the 2017/18 list. UCT remains the highest rank university in Africa.

Wits dropped 28 places to 359th in 2016, and continued to fall – down a further five spots in 2017, now ranked third below the University of Stellenbosch, which climbed 34 places to become the second-ranked university in the country.

Stellenbosch’s rise is a continuing trend, having climbed back into the top 400 – to 395th place in 2016‚ from the 401-410 band in 2015.

Aside from Stellies, the University of Pretoria was the only other university to advance in the global rankings, moving from the 551-600 band to the 501-550 bank.

Rhodes University, and University of KwaZulu-Natal both dropped down the rankings, while the University of Johannesburg was stable from the prior year’s ranking. Rhodes’ drop placed it below UJ, overall.

Relative newcomers to the list – which has been expanded to include 916 universities (800 in 2015) – North West University and the University of the Western Cape both ranked outside the top 800 institutions